Contribution of Ibn Sina (Avicenna) towards knowledge and sciences

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND AND HISTORY
Abu Ali AL-Hussain Ibn Abdallah Ibn Sina (Avicenna) was born in 980 AD at Afshana, near Bukhara, the part of Iran¹. The young Bu Ali received his early education in Bukhara and by the age of ten he had become well versed in the study of the Quran and various sciences. He started studying philosophy by reading various Greek, Muslims and other book on this subject and learnt logic and some other subjects from Abu Abdallah Natili, a famous philosopher of that time .While he still young, he attained such a degree of expertise in medicine that that his renown spread far and wide.

At the age of 17, he was fortunate in curing Nooh Ibn Mansoor, the King of Bukhara, of an illness in which all the well-known physicians had given up hope. On his recovery, the King wished to reward him, but the young physician only desired permission to use his uniquely stocked library. According to his autobiography, at the age of five Avicenna moved with his family to the city of Bukhara where he had a greater opportunity to study. His early education was religious, and by the age of 10, he knew by heart the whole Quran and other available Persian and Arabic literature.

By 21, he was also given an administrative post and soon wrote his first book. Avicenna was now an established physician and political administrator, professions he continued to practice in the courts of various Iranian rulers, heads of the numerous successor states of Iran that emerged during the disintegration of the Abbasid authority. On his father's death, Bu Ali left Bukhara and traveled to Jurjan where Khawarizm Shah welcomed him. There, he met his famous contemporary Abu Raihan Al-Biruni. Later he moved to Ray and then to Hamadan, where he wrote his famous book Al-Qanun fi al-Tibb. Here he treated Shams al-Daulah, the King of Hamadan, for severe colic.

From Hamadan, he moved to Isphahan, where he completed many of his monumental writings. Nevertheless, he continued traveling and the excessive mental exertion as well as political turmoil spoilt his health. Finally, he returned to Hamadan where he died in 1037 A.D.²

CONTRIBUTION OF IBN SINA TOWARDS KNOWLEDGE AND SCIENCES
Ibn Sina is one of the great Muslim scholars other than al -Razi, al- Farabi, al- Biruni, al-Khawarizmi, at-Tusi and also al-Kindi and Ibn Rusyd. There are many contributions of Ibn Sina towards knowledge and sciences such as medical, philosophy, astronomy and also music. However, Ibn Sina is most popular in medical field.
Medicine

His major contribution to medical science was his famous book al-Qanun, known as the "Canon" in the West. The Qanun fi al-Tibb³ is an immense encyclopedia of medicine extending over a million words. It served for 600 years as a standard medical textbook in major centres of learning throughout Europe and the East, and is known as the most important and enduring single medical book ever written. In this encyclopaedic work Ibn Sina brings together all the medical and pharmaceutical knowledge that had gone before him and discusses them systematically. It surveyed the entire medical knowledge available from ancient and Muslim sources. In addition to bringing together the then available knowledge, the book is rich with the author's original contribution. His important original contribution includes such advances as recognition of the contagious nature of phthisis and tuberculosis; distribution of diseases by water and soil, and interaction between psychology and health⁴. In addition to describing pharmacological methods, the book described 760 drugs and became the most authentic material medical of the era. He was also the first to describe meningitis and made rich contributions to anatomy, gynecology and child health. Also, he was the first physician who suggested the treatment for lachrymal fistula and introduced medical probe for the channel.

Philosophy

As philosopher, his famous contribution was named Kitab al-Shifa (Book of Healing), which is classified the entire field as follows: theoretical knowledge, physics, mathematics and metaphysics, and practical knowledge, ethics, economics and politics⁵. Actually, his philosophy has the combination of Aristotle and Neo-Platonism in Islamic way. He described the concept of dualism of mind and matter. Other than al-Shifa, his well known works includes al-Najat and Isharat.

Astronomy

Ibn Sina made astronomical observations and we know that some were made at Isfahan and some at Hamadan. He made several correct deductions from his observations. For example he observed Venus as a spot against the surface of the Sun and correctly deduced that Venus must be closer to the Earth than the Sun. ⁶Ibn Sina invented an instrument for observing the coordinates of a star. The instrument had two legs pivoted at one end; the lower leg rotated about a horizontal protractor, thus showing the azimuth, while the upper leg marked with a scale and having observing sights, was raised in the plane vertical to the lower leg to give the star's altitude. Another of Ibn Sina's contributions to astronomy was his attempt to calculate the difference in longitude between Baghdad and Gurgan by observing a meridian transit of the moon at Gurgan. He also correctly stated, with what justification it is hard to see, that the velocity of light is finite.

Music

In the field of music, his contribution was an improvement over Farabi's work and was far ahead of knowledge prevailing else- where on the subject. Doubling with the fourth and fifth was a 'great' step towards the harmonic system and doubling with the third seems to have also been allowed. Ibn Sina observed that in the series of consonances represented by (n + 1)/n, the ear is unable to distinguish them when n = 45⁷. In the field of chemistry, he did not believe in the possibility of chemical transmutation because, in his opinion, the metals differed in a fundamental sense. These views were radically opposed to those prevailing at the time. As Ibn Sina considered music as one of the branches of mathematics it is fitting to give a brief indication of his work on this topic which was mainly on tonic intervals, rhythmic patterns, and musical instruments. Some experts claim that Ibn Sina's promotion of the consonance of the major third led to the use of just intonation rather than the intonation associated with Pythagoras.

Physics

In Physics, he contributed to the study of different forms of energy, heat, light and mechanical, and such concepts as force, vacuum and infinity. He made the important observation that if the perception of light is due to the emission of some sort of particles by the luminous source, the speed of light must be finite. He propounded on an interconnection between time and motion, and also made investigations on specific gravity and used an air thermometer.

Chemistry

In the field of Chemistry, he did not believe in the possibility of chemical transmutation in metals. These views were radically opposed to those prevailing at his time. His treatise on minerals was one of the main sources of geology of Christian encyclopedist of the thirteenth century.

Anatomy

Ibn Sina's Qanun contains many of his anatomical findings which are accepted even today. Ibn Sina was the first scientist to describe the minute and graphic description of different parts of the eye, such as conjunctive sclera, cornea, choroids, iris, retina, layer lens, aqueous humor, optic nerve and optic chiasma⁸. Ibn Sina condemned conjectures and presumptions in anatomy and called upon physicians and surgeons to base their knowledge on a close study of human body. He observed that Aorta at its origin contains three valves which open when the blood rushes into it from the heart during contraction and closes during relaxation of the heart so that the blood may not be poured back into the heart. He asserts that muscular movements are possible because of the nerves supplied to them, and the perception of pain in the muscles is also due to the nerves. Further, he observes that liver spleen and kidney do not contain any nerves but the nerves are embedded in the covering of these organs.

Geology

Although Avicenna is better known in Medicine and Philosophy, he was less known in Earth Science. This is because of the nature of the Earth Science itself, and its history of development in Europe. Earth Science also was known as "Geology. The purpose of this rather concise account is to highlight Avicenna's contribution to the development of Earth sciences, and seeking to answer the following points which are to close the gap in the history of Geology, which reflects human thought upon the nature of the Earth, to show that Avicenna's original contribution was not the product of an earlier Greek thought and to show that fundamental principles of Geology were put forward many centuries before the Renaissance in Europe. ⁹In Kitab Al-Shifa, Avicenna had presented fundamental principles of Geology in terms of Earth processes, major events and long geologic time. Those principles were later known in the Renaissance of Europe as the law of superposition of strata, the concept of catastrophisim, and the doctrine of uniformitarianism.

CONCLUSION

As a conclusion we can say that Ibn Sina or Avicenna was one of the greatest Muslim scholars in the eyes of the world. . Ibn Sina‘s “The Canon of Medicine” is thought to be the most medical textbook ever written. In 1400-1600 AD it was used as the main medical text in the most European universities. ¹⁰Avicenna was more than a famous clinician or an eminent writer. He was a renowned pharmacologist, philosophers, researchers, theorist, poet, and a successful politician, with more than 276 books, essays and treaties credited to him. European medical historians consider him to be one of the famous scientists in Islam. The present article describes his origin, gives a brief history of period in which he lived and summary of his of his contribution to both pharmacology and medicine.

His major contribution to medical sciences was hi great book of Al-Quran Fi Al-Tibb also known as Conan in the west. It is an immense encyclopedia of medicine extending over a million words .it surveyed the entire medical knowledge available from ancient and Muslim sources.

It was his skill in medicine that was to prove of great value of Ibn Sina for it was through his reputation in that area that the Samanid ruler Nooh Ibn Mansoor came to hear him. After Ibn Sina had cure the Samanid ruler of on illness, as a reward, he was allowed to used the Royal Library of the Samanid which proved important for Ibn Sina‘s development in the whole range of scholarship.

Ibn Sina gives a theory of knowledge describing the abstraction in perceiving an object rather than that concrete form of the object itself. In metaphysics he had proved that existence. He considered the scientific and mathematical theory of the world and ultimate causation by God. His aim is sought to be integrate all aspect and religion in a metaphysical vision. ¹¹With this vision he attempted to explain the formation of the problems of evils, prayers, providence, prophecies, miracles and marvels also within its scope fall problems relating to the organization of the state in according with religious and the question of the ultimate destiny of man. He stated that the power of concentration and the intellectual prowess were such that he was able to continue his outward disturbances. He discussed reason and reality claiming that God is pure intellect and that knowledge consist of the mind grasping the intelligible both reason and logic are required. But Ibn Sina claimed that it is important to gain knowledge. Grasp to the intelligible determines the fate of the rational should in the hereafter and therefore is crucial to human activity .The western look Ibn Sina as promoting natural science and arguing against religious men whom attempt to obscure the truth. Despite of such glorious tributes to his work, Ibn Sina is rarely remembered in the west today and his fundamental contribution to medicine and the European reawakening so largely unrecognized. He is considered as one of the four great Mutalizite scholars, the others being AL-Kindi, Al-Farabi and Ibn Rusyd

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